March Madness 2014: The Best Teams Who Won’t Win The Title

Tread carefully when picking any of these teams in your Final Four.

Parity rules in today’s college basketball world. Obviously, there are still good teams and those who are not so good, but the depth of talent between the top programs and the middling ones has seldom been closer. Never has that reality been more apparent than in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Of the 68 teams in the field this year, there are at least eight-to-ten (and maybe more) that have a legitimate shot at running the table and winning the National Championship. That is far more than in most years and should make for an incredibly entertaining tournament (although, really, every March Madness tournament is entertaining).

Without further ado, here are the teams that I believe will come close but fall short of winning the 2014 championship, ranked from bottom to top (and don’t worry, I did pick a winner at the end, so you won’t be in suspense).

Champion: Florida Gators

The Gators haven’t lost since Dec. 2, ripping off 26 straight wins in the interim, including three over Kentucky and another over Kansas. This team is deep, well-coached, experienced, and having lost in the Elite Eight three years in a row, hungry.

Guard Scottie Wilbekin, sat out for both of the Gators’ losses and all he did was win SEC POY, so he has just of little importance to the team.

The primary reason the Gators will win, however, is their coach, Billy Donovan. Donovan is one of the best in the business, with two titles already on his résumé. I refuse to pick against a team with that much talent headed by a coach that's great at molding talent. Plus, I’m afraid Patric Young’s muscles might get me if I picked anyone else.

Mark it down; Florida will win the 2014 National Championship.

Dylan Sinn is a freelance contributor for CraveOnline Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSinn or “like” CraveOnline Sports on Facebook.